Thanks for tuning-in to Coastal Zone CA! Our
site endeavors to log the character of coastal California’s natural
and human history, as well as to highlight the contributions of locals of
the land doing great work and having fun. Please check for regular updates.
In the Zone Interview
we visit salt of the earth and hear their stories, in the Real
World we examine pieces of the natural history of coastal
California, and in Coastal
Roots we share a bit of California’s maritime history.
A BIG THANK YOU to the ultimate Zone Local - Zephyr Forest
- for constructing the Coastal Zone CA website!!
Yay for hi-tech teenagers!!
Enjoy
Jeez – that was a longer break than I expected to take between updates of The Coastal Zone site.. It was a combo of summer busyness and summer space out. I had teenagers going in different directions, work in upheaval, and then a nice stretch of everything seeming like it was in suspension, with my daughter on her own in Oregon doing fine, and my son on an epic North Africa to Europe group trip.. So, we headed out on some fun local journeys. Just made it easy: no flights, no big spending, pack the truck, the dog, the boards, and go play. We took a short-ish southward trip to our favorite coastal spots along the San Mateo and Santa Cruz coasts with friends, and then later took an epic North Coast tour and car camping trip to some regions new to us. So, I decided this edition of The Coastal Zone should focus on north vs. south.. Or, to put a nicer tone to it: the unique qualities of California’s north and south coasts.
My perspective of the California coast is always evolving. You can’t really divide the coast up into regions anyway.. it’s definitely not as simple as north and south. For the sake of ease, I’ve settled for now on Northern, Central and Southern California. It’s only a slight mental expansion, but at least it’s something. My past perspective lines in the sand put anything south of Monterey into Southern California – doesn’t quite fit, but almost. And more than a few southern folks I know, grew up thinking that Santa Barbara was the gateway to the wilds of Northern California! I’ve always felt the Bay Area was pure Nor Cal, but after concertedly exploring another chunk of the far north coast this summer I have a different take on it.. at least for now.
I’ve included my trip journal from our north coast journey in the Real World pages, and this edition of the Zone Interview is with author and naturalist, Nancy Salcedo – a coastal native without boarders! Also, we finally started our Photo Album pages, with several shots from this summer’s north coast trip, and added a new link to a database of photos of the entire CA coast on the Connections page.
Have fun, and Go Giants!
-Rowena
-Rowena, and the Coastal Zone CA crew
Photos P. Pyle
Ferndale with CA Indian Basket, 2005
